Thanksgiving! (Part 1)

I'm seriously slacking at the blog. Oh well, I'm sure you'll get over it. :)

So on Sunday evening my roommates and I decided to have our own little Thanksgiving dinner. We decided to invite over some neighbors (the Garage House boys) to pay them back for a breakfast they made us about a month and a half ago. Everyone contributed: Jessie made a big gigantic turkey, which was pretty impressive; Shandy (and Amanda) made mashed potatoes; Amanda made cheesecake and pumpkin chocolate chip bread; Laura made a super tasty broccoli salad and a green salad; Stormie made a fruit salad; Sloan made stuffing; Mallory brought drinks; the boys brought homemade rolls; and I made pasta salad, key lime pie, chocolate chip cookies, and (at the last minute) homemade gravy from scratch. It all tasted lovely.

I can't deny I was impressed with everyone's domesticity. Everyone claims they can't cook, but the food was way good; I was stuffed afterward. And we got to enjoy the leftovers the next day, which was arguably just as great as the dinner itself. Now I get to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family! I'm very excited.

The group!

Top left: Sloan, Kraig, Ryan, Dave, Andrew, Matt, and Aaron. Bottom left: Shandy, Laura, Amanda, me, Jessie, and Mallory. Stormie was there, her presence just wasn't documented. Unfortunately our cute Sophie couldn't make it at all. We sure missed her!

Isn't my apron so cute?!

Halloween!

So my Halloween this year was super fun. I think it made up for my crappy Halloween last year. I was in Disneyland, and while it was fun to see other people dressed up amongst the festively-decorated theme park, I never got a costume for myself... I had to work and by the time I got home it wasn't worth finding a party. Anyway, this Halloween was so great. On the 29th, I had a Halloween party with my roommates! We had a spooky dinner, carved pumpkins, and basked in each other's awesomeness.
Here's our spooky dinner!

Our spooky spread Runny Nose and Goblin Snot (chicken noodle soup and broccoli cheese soup, respectively) in bread bowls, Vampire's Blood (Hawaiian punch & Sprite), Slimy Brains (pasta salad), Zombie Toes (pigs in a blanket), Body Parts Dunked in Earwax (veggie tray with ranch dip), Moldy Skin 'n Scabs (green salad with tomatoes), and Eyeballs (deviled eggs). We also had dirt cups and apples with caramel dip! I think it was a hit.

Left to right: Stormie, Jessie, Shandy, Amanda, Sophie, Laura, and me!
Not pictured: Sloan and Mallory

On the 30th (Saturday), it was the Howl at USU. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go, but it ended up being SO fun. DeeDee and her roommate Hailey came up to Logan and we all went to the Howl together. They dressed up like "Risky Business" and I was Hermione Granger. People always say that Halloween is the one night of the year when you can be whoever you want to be. For some people that just means dressing like a slut, but for me, I got to BE Hermione. I've always felt like I connected with her ever since I first read "Harry Potter" in 5th grade. Speaking of which, for Halloween in 5th grade, me and my two best friends dressed up Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the 3 of us. But here I am! Aren't I cute?

Sorry about the crappy quality, it's a picture of a picture. Maybe I'll scan it someday.

So now, ten years later, I reprise my role as Hermione Granger:

Yep, I'm wearing my time-turner.


Hailey, me, and DeeDee

So we went to the dance after waiting in line for about an hour, then we went to see We the Kings! They were so great! Their music is fabulous and the band is pretty funny. They came onstage wearing Jack Skellington masks. All I could think was "Geez, that could be anybody under there. I hope it's the real band..." and they ended up taking their masks off after a song or two. I was getting squished when I was up really close, but when we moved farther back (after I got elbowed in the face) I took some pictures. Sorry they're kinda crappy, they were taken on my phone.

At first I neglected to give the details of the rest of my weekend! My apologies. On Sunday morning, after about 4 hours of sleep, I drove home to Murray for my friend's missionary homecoming. He spent the last two years in Brazil and it was SO great to see him. It was like a mini high school reunion, so that was interesting too. Then I got to have our traditional Halloween dinner with my family! It was just as good as I remember. Homemade chili (complete with pumpkin-shaped cheese slices to go on top), monster claw breadsticks, yummy orange punch stuff, and pumpkin squares for dessert. It was lovely. Then I had to drive back to Logan. It was kind of awful, but at least my weekend had been great.